Chapter 182 - Demon Castle

Inside a damp and dark building.

Shin Ha-ru was walking quietly through it.

"..."

Stepping on something sticky and black covering the floor, she continued moving forward.

Passing through what was once an escalator, she descended underground.

The wide, open space that would have been bustling with people was now...

"...Haah."

Transformed into something like hell itself.

The electricity was half out, making the lights flicker dimly.

A place normally crowded with people being completely empty without a single person was eerie enough, but this was even worse.

Something black and writhing spread across the floor.

These unidentifiable things covered not just the floor but the walls and ceiling too.

They appeared almost alive.

The sight of this vast space being consumed by those black tentacle-like things would make any ordinary person tremble with fear just by looking at it.

But Shin Ha-ru merely frowned briefly.

'...Speaking of black tentacles, it reminds me of that day with Egostic. Behi... something, I think it was called.'

She even momentarily reminisced about past events.

Of course, since this was deep in enemy territory, she quickly shook off those thoughts and refocused on her mission.

The purpose of this exploration was to eliminate as many of the monsters reportedly multiplying here and to kill the villain behind all this.

Capturing them alive would be ideal, but given how dangerous the opponent seemed, this decision had been made.

'...This villain appears different from previous ones in that they can corrode wide areas and create other life forms. Looking at similar foreign cases, after a week of this kind of corrosion, who knows what might happen...'

As she recalled the expert's words, she continued moving deeper inside.

And the deeper she went, the more horrifying sights she encountered.

The underground mall-like space with its many passages like an ant colony was completely covered in something sticky and black.

The more she looked, the more it resembled a horror movie, and Shin Ha-ru's expression grew increasingly grim. What was especially unsettling was that despite reports of some monstrous creatures, she saw nothing—the place was eerily empty.

Starting to feel something was off, she quickened her pace.

...Perhaps it would be better to fight something, anything alive, rather than this emptiness.

So Shin Ha-ru continued deeper downward.

And as she did, the scenes before her became increasingly distorted.

"..."

Spaces completely different from the original map, transformed.

Among the black substance that had consumed everything without leaving a single gap,

objects that seemed out of place, like from medieval times, began to appear one by one.

An antique-looking mirror, candlesticks, and bizarrely shaped portraits.

These out-of-place items scattered about made the atmosphere increasingly ominous.

As Shin Ha-ru flew through the corridors with a hardened expression, she finally saw them.

Grrrr—

'Those things' rising from the black liquid.

They looked like small demons. Small heads, two horns, and even wings. The difference was that they had no faces, not even eyes, perhaps because their entire bodies were made of that sticky black substance.

These small humanoid figures were wandering around one area. Only in that space consumed by the black sticky substance, where even light was dim.

And on one side, a suspiciously bubbling black liquid.

In front of that area where some strange black protrusion rose up, an arm made of black tentacles shot out from the bubbling liquid.

In this grotesque scene,

as she took one step closer,

Whoosh—

Chillingly,

all those demon-shaped tentacle masses turned their faces toward her at once.

"..."

And at that very moment.

—Keeeeeeeeek!

All the demons in the room rushed at her.

"Tsk..."

At the same time, Stardus clenched her fist and stepped forward.

Yes, fighting like this was better.

A tangible enemy was preferable to an undefined fear.

And so, her fist sent a demon's head flying.

***

"Huff... huff..."

How much time had passed since then?

Catching her breath, Shin Ha-ru looked around.

...No more enemies in sight.

And the surroundings were a complete mess.

Finally catching her breath, she sighed and brushed off the black substance on her hands.

...They were stronger than expected, but she had endured.

Despite looking terrifying like ghosts, they naturally collapsed when hit with her fists, being somewhat organic.

Of course, despite being made of tentacle-like things, they were surprisingly sturdy, and many attacked at once making it difficult to handle them simultaneously, but having grown much stronger than before, she could manage.

The problem was not knowing how many more of these things existed.

"..."

With that thought, Shin Ha-ru looked around again.

The black demons she had defeated seemed to have been absorbed back into the liquid.

After confirming this, she headed toward where the black liquid had been bubbling earlier.

There she found something like a black tumor. And beneath it, in the black pool, a horned head half-formed.

"Tch."

She kicked it away, and then studied the area for a moment.

...It seemed these demons were being created in front of this bulging, heart-like pulsating black mass.

Having made this assessment, she put strength into her foot and simply kicked the demon heart-like thing.

With a "pop" sound, the tumor shattered.

And the pool in front of it...

—Bubble bubble.

With that sound, it stopped boiling.

Only after confirming that no more demons were emerging did Shin Ha-ru finally take a breather.

"Phew..."

...This area seemed to be cleared.

Exhausted and wanting to sit somewhere, she quickly gave up after seeing everything covered in black tentacles.

So Shin Ha-ru was left alone in the dark empty space with only flickering lights.

Only then did she check her surroundings again.

A large underground meeting plaza with something like a fountain.

Though everything was covered in black tentacles, it wasn't hard to imagine this place once bustling with people. The space was open up to the second floor.

Looking around to see if anything else might have heard the commotion, and seeing nothing approach, she stood alone, lost in thought.

"....."

Her face naturally hardened.

...The conclusion she had reached after coming here and fighting those demon-like things was:

This was a much bigger problem than expected.

'...This level of ability.'

She had traversed many spaces so far.

And all those spaces were covered in this black substance.

All of this created by one person in a single night.

And those demon-like things.

Though she managed to dispatch them quickly in a few minutes, the fact that they gave her some trouble meant they were quite strong. After all, Stardus herself was the strongest among all heroes in the Republic of Korea.

And these things were reproducing on their own.

Who knew how many of these reproducing monsters were spread throughout this vast underground?

Stardus unconsciously shuddered.

...Just how strong was the villain behind all this?

And simultaneously, a kind of lament.

Why do these villains keep appearing?

Was the Republic of Korea cursed to never know peace?

"...For now, I should deal with the places that seem to be creating these demon things, and then take care of the villain... that should end it all."

She muttered to herself in the empty space, as if trying to convince herself.

Naturally, there was no response.

Only her voice echoed in the empty space.

...Let's keep going.

After stretching her arms to loosen her muscles, she headed even deeper.

With blue eyes and a slightly anxious expression, she ventured deeper, unaware at this point...

That a pair of eyes had been watching her entire journey.

***

...Tsk. She fights well, but this uneasy feeling persists.

Should I step in now and take out the final boss myself to force-end this event?

[...No, oppa. Weren't you the one who said we needed to let her grow or the world would end?]

A voice echoing in my head, sounding incredulous.

I know, but seeing Stardus struggling in real-time makes my heart ache.

Somewhere in the underground of the Trade Center.

Hidden behind a black pillar watching Stardus, I sighed.

Beside me floated a strange machine.

Seo-eun's creation, the Ego-Searcher, a surveillance device that looked unmistakably like a jellyfish, was accompanying me.

'...Still, seeing her fight earlier.'

She definitely fights better than in the original story. There might actually be some chance of success this time.

But that's one thing, and fuck, I'm terrified. Everything around is filled with black liquid monsters.

Being actually present in what was criticized as a horror special episode in the original story was making me, a person with a weak constitution, quite nervous.

[Haha! This place feels as familiar as home! Before I escaped from the afterlife...]

...Unlike me, Death Knight was buzzing excitedly inside the ring. As I listened to him ramble on, I sighed again.

It had been hours since I convinced the Ego-stream members to come down here.

With an anxious heart, I had descended into this demonic underground alone like some courage test, hiding and watching to ensure Stardus didn't meet an untimely death.

But she seemed to be fighting well. In the original story, she got injured fighting those little demons, but that hadn't happened.

Yes. The fortunate thing is that at this pace, I probably won't need to intervene!

That's what I was thinking positively.

At that time.